Writing studies has been an intellectual playground dominated by the "big kids." If we are to understand how writing becomes "relevant" to children as children, then we must study them, not for who they are becoming, but for who they are in life spaces shared with other children. This essay on the methodology entailed in…

Young children are growing up in a time when literacy practices and textual productions are in flux. Yet literacy curricula, particularly for those deemed "at risk," are tightly focused on the written language "basics." What are the potential consequences? In this article, the author considers this question, drawing on an ethnographic study of…

Presents and considers the vision of children as receptors of adults' ideological messages. Reviews examples of adults' rewriting for children, drawing primarily on the rewriting of folk stories. Reconstructs, using ethnographic data from urban schools, one branch of a classroom chain of communication. Discusses the classroom conditions that…